“With the holidays approaching, many of us will find ourselves with family members whose political and ideological beliefs are far different from our own. For those of us who wish to address these differences, or have meaningful conversations with those who do not agree with our principles, Organizing For Action is teaming up with Swing Left to host a five-part series on “Effective Conversations”. The series will discuss “how to be a better listener, communicate why something is important to you, and make the case for your argument. We’ll focus on talking to others about the health of our democracy and our future, and how we can use these effective conversations to get people involved in the issues that matter to them.” Let’s sign up for the series and learn to productively communicate with others: http://bit.ly/2hy5FQK” from http://roganslist.blogspot.com

UPCOMING EVENTS

Tuesday November 21 at 5-6pm Trump Tax plan protest We are meeting in front of the Asa Bloomer building (450 Asa Bloomer Office Building, Rutland, VT 05701) but might be moving around downtown so if you are late look around for us – we might move over to around the Coop.

Wednesday November 22 at 8-9am Trump Tax plan protest We are meeting in front of the Asa Bloomer building (450 Asa Bloomer Office Building, Rutland, VT 05701) but might be moving around downtown so if you are late look around for us – we might move over to around the Coop.

Saturday November 25 TD Bank Rutland protests 10am-noon – We’re on the corner, at the apex of the streets – if you’re looking directly at the stand-alone booth or at the side of the building you may not see us

Sunday November 26 Book Club on Nonviolence at 2 pm at Northshire Bookstore, Manchester. “The first book we will delve into is Charles Eisenstein’s The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible. This is an amazing book that explores the current paradigm of Separation and the paramount need to shift to a paradigm of Interbeing – one of recognizing our interconnectedness — which is the essence of nonviolence. We will take a few months to read and discuss this book UNLESS we are interrupted by a need to demonstrate or vigil at the roundabout on that Sunday. Other books we will read in the future are Rivera Sun’s novels about nonviolent resistance. The Dandelion Insurrection for starts. Open to suggestions from others. This book group is being hosted by Jack’s Affinity Group. We need to train up the movement in the ways of nonviolence. All are welcome. The bookstore has some copies on hand. If they run out have them order one and ask for a discount.”

Sunday December 17 Restoring Civil Discourse 10:30 am, UU Church, 117 West St, Rutland – Justin Classen, Rutland County Progressive Party Chair, will be talking about the need for a return to civil discourse

SUCCESSES/GOOD NEWS

Vermont’s Democratic Party has become the first in the country to vote for the unionization of its staff; On Saturday they went from a 2:1 ratio in male:female voting members to a majority of female voting members; Democrats have also organized more towns than ever before

1 “Too many people “[health]care due to high out of pocket costs, and as every primary care practitioner can attest, the health consequences can often be tragic. Over the next few weeks, our representatives and senators will meet to decide on their legislative priorities for the upcoming session.” From Vermont Healthcare for All, h/t Mary

Action: Ask your legislators “to make Universal Primary Care (S53 for the Senate, and H248 for the House) a legislative priority. To send a letter to your State House representatives and senators, click here! It’s important to write your message in your own words, but click here if you would like some key points!”

Action: Contact your local legislators to express your support for legislation addressing water clean-up without putting an undue burden on Vermonters who can’t afford it http://legislature.vermont.gov/people/ Demand imagination!

Action: Here’s a tip that I heard from a friend of the renowned activist Grace Lee Boggs at the Women’s Convention in Detroit a few weeks ago: Keep a journal of all of the things that you see/hear/do every day that contributes to white supremacy. If a day goes by without you writing something down, rethink it!

Summit (July 6-8, Chicago): The first summit call took place last week. If you’re interested in being on that planning team — which can involve anything from speaker selection to event planning to choosing a menu — please reach out to summit@marchforscience.com and join the #summit channel on MFSNetworks Slack.

Website Template: Our current website is built on wix. Amanda is working to make a clean copy of it available as a template for use by any satellites interested. If you’re interested, please reach out to amanda@marchforscience.com.

Pincause Pins: We have reached an arrangement with Pincause to make pins available to satellites for sale at cost locally or through a direct, city specific link on their website. To learn more, fill out this form. Please read the terms and conditions prior to submitting your information.

Blogging: March for Science is looking for a few good writers and editors to contribute content to our blog, Science Not Silence, which will relaunch this month. Please reference this link for a call to bloggers and the writing guidelines. The blog will share stories about science and its impact in your everyday life.

9 To pass their reverse Robin Hood tax scam, Republicans are counting on offsetting cuts for the rich with a billion dollars in revenue gained from selling oil-drilling rights in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). In addition to endangering our environment, data from past sales indicates this sale would bring in $850 million less than the GOP is claiming https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-31/arctic-refuge-oil-bonanza-more-likely-to-be-bust-for-gop-budget. Let’s contact our reps and let them know we see this for what it is – sleight of hand meant to give Big Oil and Trump’s billionaire buddies what they want at the expense of our hard-earned money and our children’s future – and we want them to oppose opening ANWR for drilling.

10 “The 654 miles of walls and fences already on the US-Mexico border have made a mess out of the environment there. They’ve cut off, isolated, and reduced populations of some of the rarest and most amazing animals in North America, like the jaguar and ocelot. They’ve led to the creation of miles of roads through pristine wilderness areas. They’ve even exacerbated flooding, becoming dams when rivers have overflowed. Now, DHS is eyeing unfenced areas in two Texas wildlife refuges that conservationists consider some of the most ecologically valuable areas on the border — home to armadillos and bobcats. If a wall were to slice through these ecosystems, it could cause irreversible damage to plants and animals already under serious threat.” Let’s read this article from Vox “The ecological disaster that is Trump’s border wall: a visual guide.” Let’s continue to tell all of our MoC’s: no funds for the border wall.

11 This article at EcoCycle gives us some of the ways we can remove our names from mailing lists and reduce our paper mail. Let’s do our part to reduce paper waste.

12 “French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that France would cover the amount the U.S. contributed for climate science research to a United Nations panel after President Trump signaled America would exit the Paris climate change pact. “They will not miss a single euro,” Macron said, according to Reuters, referring to the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The U.S. has given the IPCC about 2 million euros a year in the past.”http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/360546-macron-france-will-cover-us-share-of-funding-for-uns-climate I’m embarrassed that trump is not allowing Americans to contribute our fair share for climate science research. We can send a thank you tweet to President Macron. @EmmanuelMacron. Copy and tweet this in French: merci de payer notre facture pour la recherche sur le climat. (English translation. Thank you for paying our bill for climate research.)

DOMESTIC TERRORISM

13 Senators John Cornyn and Chris Murphy have introduced bipartisan legislation which would focus on enhancing background checks for firearm purchases http://bit.ly/2hF2zub The bill would incentivize states to provide more detailed information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. It would also punish federal agencies who do not submit the required information. Let’s call our senators and ask that they support S. 2135: A bill to enforce current law regarding the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. We can also call Chairman Grassley ((202) 224-3744) and Ranking Member Feinstein ((202) 224-3841) of the Senate Judiciary Committee and ask that they make this legislation a priority.

HEALTHCARE

14 Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced plans to allow states to implement work requirements in order for individuals to receive Medicaid services http://bit.ly/2iZoBEL Work requirements are unnecessary, and create an administrative hurdle which will prevent low-income families from getting the services that they desperately need. From the article, “According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), eight in 10 Medicaid recipients are in working families, while 59 percent of recipients are working themselves. Those not working say there’s a major impediment to doing so, according to KFF. Thirty-five percent cite an illness or disability that prevents them from work, while 28 percent say they are taking care of family, 18 percent say they’re in school, 8 percent say they’re looking for work and 8 percent are retired.” The Trump administration’s focus on tax cuts for the rich, and refusal of health services for the poor is absurd. Let’s contact CMS administrator Seema Verma to let her know how we feel about this work requirement. E-mail: Seema.Verma@cms.hhs.gov Mailing address: Ms. Seema Verma Administrator Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 7500 Security Blvd. Baltimore, MD 21244-8013

15 The Dept. of Health and Human Services oversees the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, among other branches. Monday, Trump nominated Alex Azar to replace Tom Price as Secretary of HHS. Azar, a former executive at the pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and a staunch opponent of the Affordable Care Act, supports, among other things, converting Medicaid from an entitlement program covering everyone who is eligible into block grants. Rep. Elijah Cummings tweeted that putting Azar in charge of HHS is like asking the fox to guard the hen house. http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/360081-trump-nominating-azar-as-next-hhs-secretary Azar only needs 51 votes in the Senate for confirmation. Senators Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Susan Collins of Maine, Dean Heller of Nevada, John McCain of Arizona, Rob Portman of Ohio, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska all voted against the appeal of the ACA. We should call on them to once again act responsibly by voting against the confirmation of Azar.

16 “The so-called “Conscience Protection Act” (CPA), [House bill H.R.644 and Senate bill S.301], introduced back in January, could allow any health care provider—including doctors, insurance companies, medical training programs or hospitals—to refuse to perform, pay for, participate in or assist in abortion services. This bill would put providers’ beliefs above patient care, ultimately threatening the lives and health of patients. ” Let’s read more from the National Women’s Law Center.. House bill HR644 currently has 124 co-sponsors – 122 Republicans and 2 Democrats: 1) Daniel Lipinkski – IL3, 245 South Archer Avenue, Chicago, IL 60638, P (773) 948 – 6223. and 2) Collin Peterson – MN7, 714 Lake Avenue Suite 101,Detroit Lakes , MN 56501, Phone: 218-847-5056. Senate bill S301 has 26 Republican co-sponsors. If our MoCs are among the co-sponsors of either of these bills, let’s tell them that we object to this overt slap in the face to the separation of church and state and want them to remove themselves as co-sponsors. If our MoCs are not co-sponsors of these bills, let’s send emails and postcards to let them know we oppose HR644 and S301. Let’s all contact the two Democratic co-sponsors of House bill HR644, Lipinski and Peterson. Obviously, they made a mistake.

22 Around the world, one in three women will report having experienced gender-based violence. This is an international human rights issue that the United States has the opportunity to act on, with bipartisan legislation introduced by Senators Collins and Shaheen http://bit.ly/2ht8dvMS.2120 – A bill to prevent international violence against women, and for other purposes; also known as the International Violence Against Women Act, would work towards finding strategies to combat, prevent, and respond to gender-based violence, and is supported by over 50 organizations. Let’s call our senators and ask them to cosponsor and support this important legislation.

24 The authoritarian tactics which are used within the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, are compounded by the agency’s lack of transparency and its secrecy in how it operates http://bit.ly/2htGOtx After ICE’s failure to comply with requests for information through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) regarding the recent Operation Mega, the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, Mijente Support Committee, and Detention Watch Network are suing the agency http://bit.ly/2hFjMnj We can help add pressure by contacting Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Elaine Duke and telling her that we will not stand for the secret, unethical practices exhibited by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and that we expect transparency from both ICE and DHS. DHS comment line: 202-282-8495 Mailing address: The Honorable Elaine C. Duke, Secretary of Homeland Security Washington, D.C. 20528

27 With all the recent attacks on our right to vote, it’s easy to forget our other national scourge: abysmal voter participation rates. According to Scientific American, proven strategies to “Get Out the Vote” encourage a person to self-identity as a voter, both as a civically engaged individual and as a member of a larger voting populace (the larger the better, according to research), as indicated here: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-science-can-help-get-out-the-vote/. For us this starts with modeling voter behavior ourselves, so our families/friends/acquaintances see it happening, and continues with talking with them about the importance of voting and the logistics of doing so (both the when/where/how of actually casting a ballot, and the prior work of getting registered). Volunteering for organized GOTV efforts is important too, but let’s remember how much good we can do within our personal spheres, and long before election day!

28 The key to fixing our government is voting, of course, but since the Supreme Court crippled the Voting Rights Act in 2013, many attempts to suppress the vote have sprung up all over the country. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/11/groups-warn-voter-suppression-worse-171108191759132.html We can have the best candidates and platforms, but we must counter those attempts in order to win. Since 2015, bipartisan forces in Congress have tried to reinstate the lost protections with a bill called The Voting Rights Enhancement Act, which has been reintroduced in the current session as S.1419 (Senate) and H.R. 2978 (House). Let’s give our MoCs a call and tell them it’s their duty to support these bills, to put right what the Supreme Court got wrong.

29 The more we learn about voting hacks and other problems, the notion of going back to paper ballots is gaining attention. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) has introduced the SAVE Act (S. 2035) which is designed “to provide increased security for the voting systems of the United States, to protect against intrusion, theft, manipulation, and deletion of voter registration data and ballots, or votes cast, and to prevent cyberattacks from malicious computer hackers, and for other purposes.” https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/12/guardian-of-the-vote/544155/ The bill is stuck in the Rules and Administration Committee. Let’s ask our own senators to sign on as co-sponsors and let’s contact the members of the committee to help move it along in time to save the 2018 election. Committee members: https://www.rules.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=CommitteeMembers

MILITARY/DEFENSE/INTERNATIONAL AID

30 There are many ways we can help our veterans. “Semper Fi Fund provides immediate financial assistance and lifetime support to post 9/11 combat wounded, critically ill and catastrophically injured members of all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families. We deliver the resources they need during recovery and transition back to their communities, working to ensure no one is left behind.” The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation, with support from GoDaddy, will match our donation dollar-for-dollar, up to a total of $10 Million through December 31st. That’s a potential $20 Million to support their vital mission. Semper Fi Fund has a four-star rating from Charity Navigator: https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=11708 We can make our donation here: https://semperfifund.org/donate/

31 Congress resisted cutting the State Department budget by 30% as Trump wanted, but Rex Tillerson is inflicting the damage all by himself: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-diplomacy/top-ranks-of-career-u-s-diplomats-thin-under-tillerson-union-idUSKBN1D839F Tillerson is systematically hollowing out the State Department: the number of career ambassadors has fallen to two from five; the next rung down, “career ministers,” has shrunk to 19 from 33; and the next, “minister-counselor,” has gone from 431 to 369 and continues to decline. Barbara Stephenson, head of the American Foreign Service Association, has written to Tillerson expressing her alarm. “Intake into the Foreign Service at State will drop,” she writes, “from 366 in 2016 to around 100 new entry-level officers joining . . . in 2018.” Were the military faced with this kind of “decapitation of its leadership ranks,” Stephenson goes on, “I would expect a public outcry.” Let’s make one! We particularly need the diplomatic corps to stand between us and an ignorant, war-mongering president. Let’s contact the State Dept at 202-647-4000 or U.S. Department of State, 2201 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20520, and let’s tell our MoCs that we expect them to ensure that the State Dept. is able to do its job.

33 From Amy Siskind: The Koch brothers via Meredith just made a formal bid for Time Inc, which also includes many familiar brands like Sports Illustrated, People and Fortune. All soon to be in Koch hands. On top of the FCC news today which allow Sinclair to vastly increase their footprint, and rumors that Murdoch is trying to buy CNN, etc. Ugh. And while Trump continues his efforts to delegitimize our media. People are asking what we can do. The only thing I can come up with other than the resisting we are doing is to pay for subscriptions to media outlets you click on. I’m going to make an effort to do more of this. Their business model is either money from consumers and can remain profitable enough to be a public company, or a billionaire will pick them off to fit their agenda. Food for thought.

34 On Tuesday, partly in response to AG Sessions Hill testimony, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) introduced a National Shield Law (H.R. 4382) to keep reporters from going to jail who protect confidential sources. Although written before this election, the Columbia Journalism Review tells us why this is so important: https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/journalists_privilege_shield_law_primer.php Let’s contact our representatives to let them know how crucial it is that our journalists, most of whom are making sure that truths come out, are protected.

36 After numerous e-mails, Facebook Marketing VP Carolyn Everson has still not responded to inquiries over whether Breitbart violates Facebook’s Community Standards http://read.bi/2mfNNLY Meanwhile, Breitbart is still one of the websites where Facebook’s Audience Network advertises for various companies, thereby allowing Facebook to profit off of the website’s bigotry and hate speech. Sleeping Giants is asking that we e-mail Everson, with screen shots of content on Breitbart, to ask if she has reached a decision on whether Breitbart violates Facebook’s Community Standards. Vice President of Marketing Carolyn Everson e-mail: carolyn@fb.comSample e-mail, via Sleeping Giants: “Hi Carolyn,

Have you had a chance to reconsider whether Breitbart is violating your monetization rules by demeaning or disparaging people, groups, or causes? If not, here are some examples to help you with your decision. Thanks, [Your Name]”

MISCELLANEOUS

37 A new toolkit from Women’s March EMPOWER teaches high school and college students to become effective activists for progressive change in their communities. “The goal isn’t to reach one certain goal or fight back against one certain policy,” explains an article in Teen Vogue: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/womens-march-toolkit , “it’s to empower young people with knowledge and know-how to achieve their own social justice goals.” Let’s check out the toolkit and share it with our high school and college friends, neighbors, students, and children: https://www.womensmarch.com/empower .

Separation of church and state has always been a hallmark of our republic. A section of the current tax bill does not follow this and would weaken the Johnson Amendment which has worked so well for over 60 years to help keep this separation. Let’s sign this to keep church and state separate: http://action.adl.org/johnson-amendment/

Credo Action want us to tell the Senate that “Kathleen Hartnett White is a dangerous right-wing climate change denier who holds extreme, anti-science views. Block and resist her nomination to lead the Council on Environmental Quality.” We can so do here: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/reject_hartnett_white

“Two Philadelphia-area children are suing the President and two of his climate skeptic cabinet members, Energy Sec. Ricky Perry and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt, to try to stop them from rolling back existing environmental protections including the Clean Power Plan. The plaintiffs, ages 7 and 11, are backed by the Clean Air Council, Philadelphia’s oldest environmental non-profit. The complaint alleges that the Trump administration’s reliance on “junk science” to undo climate regulations are a threat to the young plaintiffs and other U.S. citizens.” Let’s read more at EcoWatch. This lawsuit is in addition to the one previously filed on behalf of 21 children which is currently scheduled for a trial on Feb. 5, 2018. We can read more here. Let’s keep these young people in mind for inspiration as we execute our own environmental actions.

15,372 scientists have signed what they call “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice” on the 25th anniversary of the original “Warning to Humanity,” which was signed by 1700 scientists, including the majority of living Nobel laureates in the sciences. They call on us to “insist that [our] governments take immediate action” to arrest climate change and ask us to “re-examine and change our individual behaviors” by, among other things, “drastically diminishing our per capita consumption of fossil fuels, meat, and other resources.” We can read the entire “Warning” in BioScience at: http://scientists.forestry.oregonstate.edu/sites/sw/files/Ripple_et_al_warning_2017.pdf

For Veteran’s Day, the NBA’s Stephen Curry penned this article “The Noise” to discuss how we all need to use our platforms and voices to do better by our veterans.